Weird Liturgical Happenings

During the winter months and even during some summer ones I am usually cold in church. Up where the altar is the heat does not usually get there and because of the Icon Screen the air does not move around. Even under the usual four layers of vestments I get a little chill. Mostly my hands are affected as they were this past Sunday.

As I was standing at the altar and my hands were cold I began to rub them whilst singing the various parts of the liturgy. Sometimes I tuck them under the front of the vestments and try to steal some heat. But then something really weird happened that has never happened to me before.

If you are unfamiliar with the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom about 2/3rds of the way through we have consecration of the Holy Gifts. The priest recites the words, “and make this bread to be the precious body of the Your Christ, and that which is in this cup to be the Precious Blood of Your Christ, changing then both by the power of the Holy Spirit.” My congregation is singing a little tune at this point so often times they do not hear this. Whilst the priest is saying these words he makes a cross over each of the elements. Right at that point my hands became hot, I mean hot, not warm, but hot! After the last blessing of that part of the Liturgy my hands did cool a little but they stayed warm for the rest of the Liturgy.

So I ask the priests that read this blog, has this ever happened to you? To others, the Liturgy Geeks of your out there, any thoughts on this?

Local Orthodox pastor hits the airwaves

By Brian Lee TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

SOUTHBRIDGE — The Rev. Peter-Michael Preble, St. Michael’s Romanian Orthodox Church’s pastor, wanted forgiveness.

During Rev. Preble’s weekly radio show on WESO 970, he had mistakenly hung up on a caller who had just won a DVD in which Rev. Preble’s guest, health coach Kathi Casey, shows how to relieve sciatic pain.

With all that was going on – an interview with Ms. Casey, weather updates to give, and a switchboard to operate – the pastor explained that it’s sometimes easy to forget a detail.

But the transition was seamless. He continued to guide the health dialogue with Ms. Casey, who said she enjoyed being interviewed by Rev. Preble, “an intelligent, fun and articulate host.”

And the DVD winner called back, as many listeners do at noon on Thursdays for “Father Live.”

Dick Vaughan, station operating manager, said Rev. Preble has a great audience, gets good guests and generates a lot of e-mails.

The call-in show covers just about everything but religion, Rev. Preble said.

The priest has another radio show, the syndicated “Shepherd of Souls,” which is religious in nature. It airs on WESO at 8:30 Sunday mornings. It is also heard on three other Massachusetts stations, five stations in western New York and one each in Texas, Alabama and Kentucky. It is also on a satellite network, the pastor said.

If that’s not enough, Rev. Preble has a Web blog and is on Facebook.

Religion has been multimedia for awhile. For example, the Vatican last month launched a channel on YouTube to cover the main activities of Pope Benedict XVI and relevant Vatican events.

Rev. Preble has been St. Michael’s pastor for over four years, doing radio and blogging about half that time. The church, at 16 Romanian Ave., has 65 to 70 congregants.

“As clergy, we’re required to use whatever the means or the median is to reach the largest number of people,” the priest said.

In the Orthodox church community, blogging is a couple of years old, he said.

The Orthodox message has been steady for some 2,000 years, Rev. Preble said. The countries from which it is derived “don’t need to evangelize, because everybody is Orthodox,” he said.

But here, he continued, “we compete for every person.”

St. Michael’s large Facebook presence has helped spread the word for ministry opportunities and church events.

Plus, it helps St. Michael’s in its goal of targeting people in their mid-20s to late-30s, the pastor said.

Laura N. DeAngelis, among the church’s older set, has taken to the new media, and the reverend.

The grandmother said Rev. Preble invited her onto Facebook, something she wouldn’t ordinarily have done, and he inspired her to blog.

Ms. DeAngelis said people immediately are at ease talking to Rev. Preble because he is nonjudgmental and friendly.

“You go to some churches, you feel like they’re judging you,” she said. “You can talk to him about any subject. We’re very lucky to have him.

“Like the local show, the reverend’s blog topics vary. He’s weighed in on everything from his concern about the town’s teenage birth rate, which is the state’s fourth highest, to sports. Last month his blog had a prolific 79 posts.

On his range, he said, “As religious people or clergy, we should be involved in what I like to call the public square: community, national issues and politics.

“He adds that a religion-only theme would limit his audience and message.

The syndicated show started as a Podcast two years ago. “I got on WESO first in August. It just sort of took off from there.”

St. Michael’s is his first assignment out of the seminary. Originally from Quincy, Rev. Preble had been a middle school teacher in the Hyde Park section of Boston.

Being from the city, the pastor said, it’s taken him awhile to get accustomed to this Quinebaug River community of about 17,000 people, where everyone seemingly knows each other.

“There are struggles here and struggles there and somehow we just make it all work,” he said.

His radio shows can be heard on the Internet at shepherdofsouls.com and fatherpeterlive.com. His blog is frpeterpreble.com.

Events of the Week

UPDATE: Thanks for all your prayers for Mike, he fell asleep in the Lord about 9:30pm. May His Memory be Eternal!

I don’t usually blog about bad things that happen in the church community but this warrants a little something because the end of the story, or at lest part of the end, has a happy outcome.

For the past week we have dealing with some controversy here and it has not been pleasant going through it. On Friday night we had a parish council meeting to discuss rumors and lies that have been circulating through the parish. At the end of the meeting I spoke briefly about sin and lying and how bad it is for the soul and that those involved should come to confession. Yes we in the Orthodox Church still have confession you should try it sometime it is great.

Yesterday was confession day at the church, we have confession one Saturday a month. Usually I sit alone in the church for an hour and no one comes by but yesterday low and behold a person who has not been to confession with me in the time I have been here came it was great! It is so nice to be able to help someone.

Today I spoke about pride. Today in the Orthodox Church it is the Sunday of the Judgement and the Gospel was about the separation of the sheep and the goats. I spoke about pride being the first of the deadly sins and it is first because it leads to all of the others. Low and be hold someone came to me after church and asked about confession. Not wanting to loose an opportunity I grabbed the book and we went to confession. Again another GREAT ending.

Now I have one of the oldest parishioners in the church in the hospital and it does not look good. Please pray for Michael and his family.

Blessed Sunday to all.

Get Back Up

I heard this story just the other day and then someone sent me a link to the video on You Tube. You need to watch this and send it to everyone you know, this story is so inspirational. Be warned, you might want to have a tissue or two around when you watch this.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslbhDZoniY]

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Through the parable of today’s Gospel, our Saviour has set forth three things for us: the condition of the sinner, the rule of repentance, and the greatness of God’s compassion. The divine Fathers have put this reading the week after the parable of the Publican and Pharisee so that, seeing in the person of the Prodigal Son our own wretched condition — inasmuch as we are sunken in sin, far from God and His Mysteries — we might at last come to our senses and make haste to return to Him by repentance during these holy days of the Fast.

Furthermore, those who have wrought many great iniquities, and have persisted in them for a long time, oftentimes fall into despair, thinking that there can no longer be any forgiveness for them; and so being without hope, they fall every day into the same and even worse iniquities. Therefore, the divine Fathers, that they might root out the passion of despair from the hearts of such people, and rouse them to the deeds of virtue, have set the present parable at the forecourts of the Fast, to show them the surpassing goodness of God’s compassion, and to teach them that there is no sin — no matter how great it may be — that can overcome at any time His love for man.

The Red Envelope Project

UPDATE: I joined the Red Envelope Group on Facebook and the day to send these envelopes in March 31, 2009. That is the day that we should send the envelopes.

Since traveling to Washington, DC for the March for life I have been looking for concrete ways to be involved in the Respect for Life movement. I believe now more than ever we need to band together and let our government know what we think. I know some people feel that our voices will go unheard but that does not mean we should stop shouting.

So today in my RSS feed came news of the Red Envelope Project. This is quite simple. Get a red envelope, address it to the President with the following message on the back:

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.

Do not seal the envelope and just mail it to the President. Then of course pray.

For more information go to: http://www.redenvelopeproject.org/

Pass this on to all of your friends and relatives. If you blog, blog about this and pass the word on. If you are from St. Michael’s I will have red envelopes for you all next week

Teen Birth Rate Part II

The other day I posted some thoughts on a recent article about the teen birth rate in Southbridge. Although my thoughts are still not clear on all of this I think we need to do something and the question is what?

Without pointing fingers, because as I mentioned in my recent post, pointing fingers does nothing but get people all excited for no reason. We need to find answers and solutions. It is time we roll our sleeves up and try and find the reason this is happening and then try and find a solution. This issue is far too important for us to just ring our hands and walk away from.

Parents are the first line educators of our children. Sex education belongs at home not in the classroom. Why would you want someone else teaching your kids one of the most important lessons of life. Teachers have more than enough to do with Big Brother making them teach to a test so let’s not burden then with any thing more.

So I am suggesting the following. A meeting, a summit meeting if you will, let us get together educators, parents, clergy, and maybe the politicians, and put our heads together and come up with some kind of a plan. We spend a lot of time trying to make life better in Southbridge. We are against the land fill, we are against the methadone clinic, and we are against babies having babies. So let’s do something about it. Maybe there is nothing we can do, but we have to try.

So leave me some comments, even if you are not from Southbridge, and let me know if this is a good idea and I will get the ball rolling.

Teenage birth rate on rise

Teenage birth rate on rise

I read this story in the local paper yesterday and then we talked about it on the air and I am still at a loss for words. Those of you who know me know how hard it is to get me not to say anything. I am still trying to find the correct response. I do not want to blame anyone because those days are gone. We need to stop blaming and find answers and solutions that will work.

Right away people were quick to blame the minority population of our town but that is not helpful either. Let’s see if we can put our heads together and come up with some response.

Okay guess I was not at a loss for words after all.

Washington Post Shame!

What kind of dopes do we have working at the Washington Post? I always thought they had the best reporters and editors in the business. In the midst of a Presidential Press Conference last night Washington Post reporter Michael Fletcher asked the President what he thought about the A Rod scandal. If I was the President I would have had The Secret Service remove him from the room for being stupid.

We are in the midst of the worst economic crisis in many generations and this dope asks the President what he think of an over paid child. Shame on this reporter, Shame on the Washington post if the don’t throw this bum out on his, well bum, and shame on the President of the United States for dignifying this question with an answer.

A Rod time for you and the rest of your drug addict pals to leave the field in shame!

Cross Posted from Worcester Sports Roundup

Facebook

I have been a member of Facebook for the last year or so but Saturday I went crazy with the thing. I have been using it to catch up with various people and also for ministry reasons, keeping parishioners in touch with each other and also for the various podcasts.

On Saturday my cousin Jane from Panama found me on Facebook. I have not seen her in about 5 years and it was good to connect with her. But what happened after that is the stuff that legends are made of.

My mother’s family is rather large, she is one of 10 and it has grown since then, I believe at last count there are about 300 of us running around out there somewhere. Every so often we have a reunion where we catch up and meet up with old a new family members. The first one was 29 years ago in Florida and we have had two more since then, one in Colorado and one in Quincy. Another one is being planned for 2010 in Nashville, TN.

So when cousin Jane contacted me I looked at her friend list and 5 hours latter I have like 50 new friends all cousins and aunts and uncles, and my brother who I did not even know was on Facebook, subject for a long discussion with him…

All of this is to say how important family is. It is great to be part of a very large extended family and to catch up with people and to try and figure out how we are all related. It is great to see pictures of kids and to know that the next generation is well underway and the fact that once of my cousins is now a great grand father! My we have come a long way in all of this.

So this weekend was filled with catching up with family and friends on Facebook. This is no way replaces real actual meetings and conversation, but it sets the stage and will keep us connected to each other. There has been a lot of crap written about Facebook and the other sites around but I think it is worth the time to sign up, it takes all of about 5 minutes, and then start looking around you will be surprised who you might find. I have not only connected with family but friends from the old neighborhood, from college, from High School, from my days in the Army it has been great.

So what are you waiting for, go sign up: www.facebook.com after you do look me up and make me your friend.

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